Final Week of the 31 Days of Everyday Adventure challenge

I’ve really enjoyed these last few days of the challenge. As I write this post, I feel so grateful that people were excited about participating and following along. It’s been an amazing experience for me to create (and do) something that helps us appreciate life more. I’ve grown as a person, taken steps to leave my comfort zone, and was constantly reminded to enjoy the small things instead of rushing to the next big thing.

A very special shout out and thank you to my blogging partners on this challenge: Suz from McVagabonds, Lara Krupicka, and Randi from Life’s Simple Adventures. Their bios are on the challenge page, but you should check out their blogs as well. They’re all doing amazing things and are wonderful people to know! It’s been amazing to go through this challenge with them.

Day 29: Learn a magic trick, and show it to someone you don’t know

Today I learn a few quick rubber band tricks (only because everything else seems to take forever to learn and practice). At first I try to learn this one where one rubber band goes through another, but that was too difficult to master in a short time. Instead, I learn an addition to a jumping rubber band trick that I already know (add a second rubber band to “prevent” the first from going over the fingers), because it takes almost no time to do and looks really cool. Now I can add this trick to the two card tricks I learned this summer and really call this list item accomplished!

I plan to show someone at the coffee shop after my meeting today, but sadly, I forget because I’m so focused on getting to the next thing on my to-do list! (I’ll be sure to catch up on this tomorrow.)

Day 30: Offer to teach someone something you know how to do

I realize that I often use something called the Important/Urgent Matrix for prioritization (also called Covey’s Time Management Grid or Eisenhower’s Principle – post coming soon!). It’s been really useful for me and since overwhelm is a normal problem for motivated people, I decide to offer to teach the technique. I make a post in a Facebook group about the technique (so readers can look it up) and offer to teach it to people over Skype if it’s easier for them to learn something by someone showing them instead of reading instructions.

It feels good to give back to this group because I’ve learned a lot from the members. It’s also nice to teach something I know is useful to someone who wants to learn it (perfect learning scenario!). I really like teaching (especially in these situations), so this was fun to do.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with tasks and to-do lists and/or having trouble prioritizing and want to schedule a time to chat, let me know in the comments and we can do a Skype session to learn this technique. 🙂

(Day 29 catch up on Day 30): This morning I also show someone (at the beginning of a Skype meeting) the magic trick I learned. It wasn’t the best response. I’m sure it’s because it’s harder to see over the internet/on a small screen vs it’s a lame trick when I do it awkwardly…

(Day 28 – enter a contest for something you like doing – catch up on Day 30): It was a busy day getting all caught up on the challenge activities! I submitted my 53 word story to the contest today! It makes me a little nervous, because I’d love to win but I doubt my ability and have a bunch of “what ifs”: what if my story wasn’t fully centered around the prompt, what if it’s too vague or awkward-sounding, what if the judge thinks it’s stupid, and on and on. Even with this nervousness, I love writing mini-stories, so the actual writing was fun. It’s good for me to write something and actually submit it somewhere, because I’ve played with the idea of entering writing contests before and I’ve always talked myself out of it. Knowing I did this small act will probably help me become more comfortable submitting things for publication in the future.

Day 31: Give away something you own to someone who will appreciate it

I’m going to give my friend C. the pink plunge necklace I have. I repaired it from its formerly broken state (from a package someone gave us of yard sale stuff), and then loved it because it makes me feel pretty. I think she’ll like the idea that it went from broken and unwanted, to repaired and making people feel special.

(Day 23 – do something that scares you – follow up on Day 31): I have the spider experience at the zoo today! Full post to come soon, but the short story is that I get to pet a tarantula!! I don’t get to hold it because the entomologist is worried I’d get scared and drop it. But I did get to hold many other bugs (I’m not afraid of those). It’s a really fun experience and helps me feel more confident with spiders. It also reminds me that many opportunities are possible if I just ask. I’m constantly amazed at this!

Bonus day: Reflect on your experiences

This whole challenge has been a positive experience for me. So many of the activities were just what I needed to do when I needed to do them, even though I’d planned the challenge schedule and timing months in advance. It was also an exercise in time management (it’s quite a challenge to do anything for 30 days in a row especially when the activities aren’t consistent in how much time or effort they require). Many activities involved other people and brought a smile to their faces, and it was a good reminder to do things that benefited more than just myself.

Moving forward, I want to keep doing little things like the activities in this challenge. This was a good jumpstart on a life with more balance, gratitude, and small adventures. It also gave me a sense of accountability because I knew that if I said I was going to do something, someone would likely notice if I didn’t. I’m planning on getting an accountability partner for each big project or goal.

Did you participate in this challenge in any way? What is something you’ll take from it?

Partner Posts

As I mentioned, I have bloggers partnering with me on this challenge – please take a moment to read their challenge updates as well!